A scoring breakout that can no longer be ignored

Lamine Yamal has already surpassed the best scoring season of his young professional career, and he has done it with months of competition still ahead. With his goal against Athletic Club at San Mamés, the FC Barcelona starlet reached 19 goals in the 2025-26 season, surpassing the 18 he recorded throughout the entire previous campaign. The number itself is impressive, but the context makes it even more remarkable: he is not a traditional striker and rarely operates as a central forward.

The young winger has always stood out for his creativity, dribbling ability, and vision in the final third. What makes this season different is that he has added a new dimension to his game: finishing. Lamine is no longer just the player who creates chances for others; he is increasingly the one who ends the move. When a player with that level of technical talent begins to produce goals at this rate, the conversation shifts from promising youngster to genuine attacking force.

His improvement is backed by the numbers

The evolution of Lamine Yamal is not just visible on the pitch; the statistics confirm it. Interestingly, he is actually shooting slightly less often than last season, but he has become far more efficient in front of goal. His conversion rate has jumped from 20.45% to nearly 40%, a massive leap for any player, especially one who is still only 18.

His goal against Athletic Club illustrated that growth perfectly. After receiving a pass from Pedri, Lamine controlled the ball calmly inside the box and finished with precision into the top corner. It was his only shot of the match, yet it was enough to secure the win for Barcelona, a clear example of how decisive he has become.

The numbers also show his scoring average rising from 0.33 goals per 90 minutes last season to 0.52 this year. Even more striking is that he is outperforming his own expected goals (xG) figures, an indicator that he is finishing chances at a higher level than predicted.

Few players his age in Europe can match his pace

When compared with players of the same age across Europe, the gap becomes even more evident. Lamine Yamal currently leads the list of European scorers aged 18 or younger, comfortably ahead of other highly regarded young talents.

Players such as Estevao from Chelsea and Lennart Karl of Bayern Munich have scored seven goals each this season, solid numbers for teenagers breaking into elite football. Yet neither comes close to the production of the Barcelona winger, who has almost tripled that total.

Even within Barcelona, Lamine’s impact stands out. His 19 goals make him the club’s leading scorer this season, ahead of established attacking players such as Ferran Torres, Robert Lewandowski, and Raphinha.

Messi inevitably enters the conversation

Whenever a young player emerges at Barcelona, comparisons with Lionel Messi are almost unavoidable. In Lamine’s case, the comparison has resurfaced for a very specific reason: Messi did not surpass the 20-goal mark in a single season until he was 21 years old.

That milestone came during the 2008-09 season, the first under Pep Guardiola, when Messi finally exploded as a global superstar. Lamine Yamal, by contrast, is on the verge of reaching that mark before turning 19, something that highlights the extraordinary nature of his current campaign.

Another Barcelona youngster, Marc Bernal, has also appeared on the list of top scorers aged 18 or younger, suggesting that a new generation of talent is beginning to emerge at the club. Still, Lamine’s numbers already place him in a different category, as only Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Mason Greenwood, and Luis Díaz have scored more goals than him this season across Europe’s major leagues.

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